DesignShak

Custom Widescreen Backgrounds

Now that we have the ability to show one continuous image across three screens at Heartland, we now are in need of backgrounds for a very odd aspect ratio. I believe it is something like 48:9 roughly? Our current backgrounds are now coming from Digital Juice and they have the most reasonable prices with the best quality that I’ve seen. I know that some of their backgrounds have been seen on American Idol and other high profile network television productions. They are a great company to consider if you are looking for great backgrounds for presentations and the like. Unfortunately, they don’t have panoramic backgrounds nor does anyone else that I’ve found online.

Since we couldn’t find anyone who sold this we decided to look for software that can produce this aspect ratio. I tend to lean toward Sony Vegas and I also use a few other programs, however, none of them will allow you to customize the ratio for this. The only program that is flexible enough is Adobe After Effects. This program isn’t the most user friendly tool but is used by Hollywood to get some of the most advanced special effects. If you really want a crash course with a friendly host you need to check out VideoCopilot.net. Andrew Kramer is a riot. I must warn you though, it is very addictive!